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Relay line-up blaze to new HK mark

Paggie Leung

The 400 metres relay team broke the Hong Kong record last night, but they still need to improve significantly if they are to win a medal in the final.

The foursome of Leung Chun-wai, To Wai-lok, Tang Yik-chun and Chiang Wai-hung finished second in heat two with a time of 39.74 seconds at the Olympic Sports Centre Stadium - a Hong Kong record that also earned them a berth in the final on Saturday.

The previous record of 39.77 seconds was set in Chongqing in May. Zhejiang won the heat by a mere one-hundredth of a second while Heilongjiang were third.

'It's a new Hong Kong record but we need to improve if our target is a medal,' said Hong Kong coach Yu Lik after the race. 'There is still room for improvement, especially in passing the baton.'

Hong Kong won silver in Guangdong province four years ago.

Veteran Chiang said a number of teams did not try their best in the heats and therefore Hong Kong should not take things for granted, despite a second-place finish.

'The Shanghai team were without Liu Xiang while Guangxi did not give 100 per cent. We will face a tougher battle when we start in the final,' he said.

Hosts Jiangsu came first in heat one with a time of 39.70 seconds, followed by Guangxi (39.78) and Shanghai (39.85).

Liu had to prepare for the 110m hurdles which started after the relay, while Guangxi, who finished second in heat one, were not at their best, despite having newly crowned 100m champion Gong Wei in the line-up.

The Hong Kong women's relay team failed to reach the final after finishing last in their heat in 46.75.

In shooting, Hong Kong's Clement Chow scored 95 and finished last in the men's skeet at the Fangshan shooting range.

In archery, Kwok Yuk-ying was eliminated by Zhao Ling of Beijing in the women's individual and failed to get into the last 16. Scoring 143, Kwok was five marks behind Zhao.

Tennis player Yu Hiu-tung will compete with Beijing's Yu Xinyuan for the fifth place in the men's singles today after defeating Lu Hao of the People's Liberation Army in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. Wayne Wong will challenge Lu in the seventh-place play-off.

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